This Halloween will kick off a 2020 holiday season like no other seen in the last century due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The country faced a similar landscape in 1918, as Halloween coincided with a second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic, according to History.com. 

Over the past seven months, COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives. As we continue to find safe and creative ways to navigate our new reality with this virus, it's worthwhile to reflect on what we've learned along the way.

New COVID-19 cases are rising in 39 states, and 16 states recorded more new cases last week than in any other week-long period of the pandemic, according to The New York Times' Oct. 14 Coronavirus Briefing newsletter.

Washington state's top public health official, Kathy Lofy, MD, is leaving her role at the end of the year, reports The Seattle Times.

Nearly 16 percent of Americans ages 10-17 are obese, according to an Oct. 14 report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

Leaders at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg said they are "deeply troubled" by reports that some students may be trying to contract COVID-19 so they can give blood to donation centers that are paying more for plasma with virus antibodies, NPR reports. 

West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health has launched a universal social determinants of health program to regularly screen patients for factors that may contribute to chronic disease.

The U.S. has reported an average of 52,156 new daily COVID-19 cases over the past week, an increase of 21 percent from two weeks prior, reports The New York Times.

Residents at a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Colorado protested the state's COVID-19 restrictions, reports CBS affiliate KCNC-TV.

As they grow more confident in their understanding of how COVID-19 spreads, many public health officials and authorities are questioning the efficacy of widespread, monthslong lockdowns as a solution to surges of the virus.

COVID-19 patients may produce antibodies for at least five months after initial infection, according to a study published in the journal Immunity.

The U.S. is reporting the highest level of COVID-19 hospitalizations since Sept. 2, according to COVID Tracking Project data cited by The Wall Street Journal. 

Several Vermont hospitals are cutting travel nurses, instead aiming to replace them with full-time employees as the pandemic increases financial pressure and exacerbates workforce shortages, reports VTDigger. 

The novel coronavirus can survive on common surfaces for up to 28 days, according to an Australian study published Oct. 12 in Virology Journal.

Below are six hospitals and health systems that recently posted job listings seeking chief quality officers.

California health officials will investigate Los Angeles County's safety-net healthcare system after a report highlighted clinician concerns about long wait times for specialty care, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The percentage of specimens testing positive for COVID-19 continues to decrease nationwide, though five regions reported an increase in visits for flu- or COVID-19 symptoms in the week ending Oct. 3, according to the CDC's most recent COVIDView report. 

On Oct. 2, President Donald Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. At least 29 other people connected to the White House have tested positive, according to The New York Times and WBTV.

One million new COVID-19 infections were recorded worldwide in the last three days, the highest number of cases reported in such a short time period, reports The New York Times.

Here are the rates of positive COVID-19 tests in each state, along with the number of new cases most recently reported and number of tests conducted per 1,000 people.